In other words, the 6-foot, 229-pound back has had as good of a first two weeks of fall camp as a freshman could hope.

Yet, no matter how impressive Freeman has been coming out of the backfield, he's finding some common ground with other freshmen during camp. Like most newbies in Oregon's camp, Freeman is not only learning a brand-new playbook, but he's also seeing time on special teams for the first time in his career.

And how is Freeman, who rushed for 2,824 yards and 41 touchdowns as a senior at Imperial High School (Calif.), doing on his new unit?

Well, you might as well add special teams coach Tom Osborne to the list singing praises.

"Royce Freeman isn't playing any different on the coverage on the punt/kickoff team. He's never done that stuff in his life and you would never know it," Osborne said. "He's a great football player, period."

Osborne is a guy who looks after more players than anyone else on staff, outside of the head coach and coordinators. Along with his duties as tight ends coach, Osborne gets just about everyone on the team at one point under his watch. So when he says Freeman stands out, it means he's finding a way to attract attention from a coach who oversees not just a handful, but dozens of players.

The thing that has popped most for Osborne has been Freeman's ability to take coaching and directly implement.

"He does exactly what you ask for," he said. "You don't have to take 10 reps to do something right. Show him how to do it, walk though it, show him on film and he's got it.

"He'll give everything he has every single play he's out there."

Granted, it's probably not Freeman's special teams ability that most Duck fans are curious about. It seems that his running skills are still just as impressive. While most of the Freeman-frenzy happened during the first week of fall camp, both Frost and Mariota continued to give passing grades.

"Royce has done really well," Frost said. "He's definitely shown us that he's the type of player that we thought he was coming in here."

Mariota seemed to have a similar observation about Freeman's mental ability as Osborne.

"For a young guy, he seems to pick up on key concepts and functions well with our offense," Mariota said. "Athletic (ability) aside, he's going to be a good asset."

The brain may be highest on the list, but Mariota didn't stop short of talking about those athletic abilities. He likened Freeman to the LeGarrette Blount mold: a big, bruising back who can power through the line. And the biggest key to Freeman's early success, according to Mariota, has been his ability to recognize that early playing time -- whether it's in the backfield or on special teams, might just be right in front of him.

"He's a great example of somebody who comes in and understands that I can really compete for playing time," Mariota said. "He's had that mindset since he's been here."